Cybercrime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) prosecutions,  (b) convictions and  (c) police cautions there have been for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in each of the last five years.

Claire Ward: Information showing the number of defendants issued with a caution, proceeded against at magistrates courts, and found guilty at all courts for offences under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.
	
		
			  Number of defendants issued with a caution( 1, 2) , proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts( 3) , for offences under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act( 4) , England and Wales, 2003 - 07( 5) 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Cautioned 16 32 29 46 75 
			 Proceeded against 19 21 24 25 19 
			 Found guilty 5 12 16 18 10 
			 (1) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (2) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (3) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Covers the following: Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences (Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 2). Unauthorised modification of computer material (Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3). Unauthorised access to computer material (Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec.1). (5) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  Evidence and Analysis Unit—Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Employment and Support Allowance: Tribunals

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many appeals for Employment and Support Allowance are outstanding in the East of England; and how many such appeals there are in relation to mental health.

Bridget Prentice: The Tribunals Service First Tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) is responsible for Employment and Support Allowance Appeals. The tribunal does not have a defined eastern region and collects information on an area basis. The hon. Member's constituency lies within the area known as Greater London and the South East.
	As of 8 October 2009, there were 3,221 live cases in the Greater London and South East area.
	Information is not collected on the number of outstanding employment and support allowance appeals that relate to mental health and could be provided only at disproportionate cost by making a manual check of each case file.

Parole Board

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases for  (a) oral hearings,  (b) paper hearings and  (c) other consideration before the Parole Board were outstanding on the latest date for which figures are available.

Bridget Prentice: As at the 31 July 2009 the number of cases was as follows:
	 (a) There were 1,625 indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs) cases awaiting three member oral hearings and 126 determinate cases awaiting single member oral hearings
	 (b) There were 324 IPPs cases awaiting a paper pre-tariff hearing.
	 (c) The Parole Board does not give 'other consideration' to cases other than the paper and oral hearings referred to above.